Weight loss surgery

Yesterday I was in a meeting at work with a woman who had gastric bypass surgery in November. She has lost an enormous amount of weight in a very short time. Everyone was oohhing and aahhing over her weight loss. I was disgusted by the whole thing. Yes, she looked great, but knowing how she lost it didn't deserve any of my respect. Maybe I feel so negatively against her because I am really struggling right now, but it's really more than that. I think surgery is a lazy way out and so dangerous. I really wanted to lose weight and I talked about doing it for years, but surgery never would have never been an option for me. I feel good about myself for being able to make lifestyle changes and losing weight naturally. I sometimes think I should be proud of myself for doing it, but then I realize that had I not become a couch potato and junk food junky I would have never had the need to lose weight in the first place. What I will be proud of, is keeping the weight off. Every month that I don't gain weight is a time for celebration.
I went to the club today and I felt good after the workout I need to remember that feeling every morning when I'm laying in bed choosing sleep over exercise.
The painter is almost done. I love, love, love the color. It looks so good. I can't wait to get window treatments and other accessories to really finish it off. Now I want to paint the guest bath and laundry room. And do our bedroom, bath and closet. Then the family room.

Sabotage

I'm feel like I'm sabotaging all the good I have done. I didn't work out once this past week and I didn't count points. TOM was part of the reason for not working out. I felt especially bad this month with cramps and headaches. But that was only for 2 days and not the entire week. Really I'm just making excuses when there are none. Today I have been suffering from a tummy ache and I'm sure it's partly my body's way of protesting because I'm not exercising. I know I need to do better, I say it every time I blog, but I can't seem to find "it" in me lately.
I read a play that was recommended on pasta queen's blog. It's called Fat Pig by Neil LaBute. It was interesting to read. It was about fat prejudice and had some very thought provoking scenes. At least I thought so.
We chose our paint color. It's called ruskin room green. I was very nervous about picking a color, but once I called the painter with the color I felt a huge relief. Here are before pictures.

Painting mistake

We're having our interior painted next week and we haven't chosen a color. We had some colors picked out that we liked but Sherwin Williams doesn't sell paint samples so I had to go to Hirshfields and get some. Hirshfields was getting new lighting and it hadn't been installed yet, but they had removed the old lighting so looking at colors was nearly impossible in the dim store. I did manage to finally find colors that were very close to the colors we like at SW. But of course, those weren't colors that they had in samples. So I ending picking colors that were actually in stock samples. We don't love any of them, but time is running out. We decided to go with the green color, but I'm afraid to commit to the color. Twice today I put on my shoes and coat to head to the paint store and look for something different, but didn't go either time. I need to call the painter tomorrow and let him know what color to buy. Maybe we should forget the paint samples and throw caution to the wind and go with a color chip that we liked. I'm so worried we're going to make a big color mistake and not like it. And it's costing over $1,000 so it's not like we can say "hey, it's only paint, if we don't like it we can repaint".

Bad Habits

I have acquired new bad habits in the past couple months that I need to break.

• Stop drinking soda. I have been drinking 1 or 2 diet Dr Peppers every day. By doing that, I haven't been drinking as much water and the caffeine causes PMS symptoms that I don't have when I'm not drinking caffeinated sodas.
• Stop eating WW fudge bars. They're 1 point and so yummy. But again, I have started the habit of eating 1 (and sometimes 2) every day. Even though they are only 1 point and not hurting my point intake too much, it's a bad habit to eat something so often with so little nutritional value.
• Stop choosing sleep over exercise. I have been sleeping late each morning instead of going to the club. Exercise is not optional.

Home Improvement

Yesterday I had Mexican for supper. Not good for staying within my points. I ate ALOT of chips and salsa and my entire entree of chicken fajita quesadilla. Very tasty!
The Olympics started. I really like to watch the speed skating. Makes me want to find my skates and do laps around the ice.
My husband I spent Saturday afternoon touring new homes looking for painting ideas for our interior. We saw lots of nice houses but we didn't really get any good ideas. We did learn a couple things though. 1. We need to make a color decision that has an impactful change, re: no beige. 2. If we go too neutral it will seem like we didn't change paint colors at all. Builders all seem to be using a neutral tan color now. We have to make a decision soon because our painter is starting on the 20th. Rob had a great idea about how we can update our house with little effort but big impact. We're going to replace all the interior and exterior door knobs with more modern hardware and put drawer pulls on all the cabinetry. I love the idea. We went shopping after supper to look at hardware, knobs, glass shower doors and lighting.
We also talked about the "contest". We may call it Rob's Challenge. More to get him moving and healthy, which will in theory help keep me moving and healthy. If it's about Rob, then I make the rules for him to follow. I need to really think about the rules I want for him. I know what I would want him to do, but I also want to be realistic about what he will do. If I make things too hard, he'll won't want or be able to stick with it. I made him watch Biggest Loser with me last night. There were several scenes when I turned to him and said "See?".
This morning I didn't go to the club, but I did use our exercise bike. We're going out for brunch later. Such a hard meal to eat out and stay within points. I'm going to just give myself a break and eat what I want within reason and make up for it at supper and the rest of the week.
Ugh...the rest of the week...I go back to work tomorrow.

Bob Greene

Bob Greene was on Oprah today discussing how to lose those last 20 pounds. Most of what he said was common sense. Increase your workout resistance and pace regularly. Exercise isn't negotiable. Be consistent with exercise. He also said that tennis, volleyball & bike riding, etc are "activities" and not exercise. He didn't explain why though. He also talked about plateaus. He said if you have lost a lot of weight, your body will plateau to give your organs a chance to adjust to the new "workload". Interesting. I couldn't find anything on-line to support what he said. But did find this information. And this was on Oprah's website written by Dr David Katz.
I got the results today from my bloodwork done earlier this week. My cholesterol and glucose were great. A sign that all the diet and exercise is working. I should have had my cholesterol and glucose checked before I started losing weight to see how much of an improvement (if any) there was.
We hired a painter today to paint out dining room, kitchen and living room. Now we just have to find and agree on a color. It will be so nice to be rid of the builder white.

Thursday already

I've had this week off from work and it has been so great. I can't believe it's Thursday already. I need to win the lottery so I can quit my job. Ahhh, dreams.
The Biggest Loser was good last night. Both couples were likeable and I wanted them both to win. I was very impressed and inspired by Nick & Lael training for and completing a triathlon. Doing a triathlon is something I have thought about for years. I don't have the discipline at this point in my life to train for one, but maybe someday. Ahhh, dreams again.

A contest

My husband suggested that we have a contest to see who can lose the most weight. I think it's a great idea. It will help motivate me and it will hopefully help him eat healthier and get more exercise. We need to discuss details such as how long and how do we measure the weight loss. By pounds or percentage or maybe even body fat lost. And what the prize is for the winner. I'm excited to figure out our "rules" and get started.
I had my yearly physical today. I had my bloodwork done. I should have the results by Friday. I hope everything is good. I haven't had bloodwork done in several years. I'm worried that I'll have signs of diabetes or high cholesterol from being overweight. Keeping my fingers crossed that the weight loss and exercise that I have been doing kept the bad things at bay. Also had a dentist appt. I have the beginnings of 2 cavities. Boohoo.

Another bad day

Yesterday was a terrible day. I snacked on M&M's, nuts and pretzels. And I ate an entire row of rice krispie bars. Then for supper I at crackers and spinach dip. Why did I do it? I knew I shouldn't be eating it, but I kept doing it anyway. I felt terrible and out of sorts all day and I'm sure part of it was caused by the eating and part of it was the cause of the eating. I tried to make up for it this morning by doing 60 minutes of cardio and I did my ball workout. I wish I could get past this stage. One day I'll feel like I've turned the corner and then the next day it's a struggle. I would love it my husband & I could go to the club together. He doesn't want to join the club. Maybe when the weather gets nice we can bike at night together.

Trying to get it together again

Tuesday's weigh in was only a loss of .5 pound. Argh! I know it's a loss and I should be happy that's it's not a gain, but I've only lost 1.5 pounds in about 6 weeks. My husband was very encouraging this morning when I was complaining to him. His support and encouragement really help.
I was browsing the fitness section at the bookstore today and saw a triathlon training book for women. I don't want to train for a triathlon, but I was very tempted to buy the book just for some inspiration. But it was $20 and that seemed like too much to pay for a book I wouldn't actually use for training. Maybe I'll check Amazon.
I'm going to be taking next week off from work so my plan is to jump start my workouts. I won't have to hurry in the mornings so I can spend the time I want on cardio and weights. And I plan to try spinning and a bootcamp class.
I don't feel well today. I hope it's just a blah day and I'm not getting sick.